Flexible Worksite Can Reduce Burnout

New research shows that a worksite approach that focuses on results rather than face time, and provides support for an employee’s family and personal life, improves job satisfaction and lessens chances of burnout and psychological stress.

The study of workers at a Fortune 500 company utilized a randomized control methodology whereby half of the employees were managed with a flexible worksite approach and the other half were not.

This is the first time the randomized technique has been used to measure the effects of workplace flexibility in a U.S. firm.

Conducting this research over the course of 12 months in the IT division at a Fortune 500 company were sociologist Dr. Phyllis Moen, at the University of Minnesota; Dr. Erin L. Kelly, a professor in work and organization studies at MIT Sloan; and their colleagues in the Work, Family, and Health Network.

The network brings together researchers under the aegis of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study workplace psychosocial interventions in order to improve the health of workers and their families, while benefiting employers.

Moen and Kelly split the department in two: half the work groups participated in a pilot program, where they learned about work practices designed to increase their sense of control over their work lives. These practices focused on results, rather than face time at the office.

Employees then implemented these practices, which ranged from shifting their work schedules and working from home more to rethinking the number of daily meetings they attended, increasing their communication via instant messenger, and doing a better job of anticipating periods of high demand, such as around software releases.

Managers in the pilot group also received supervisor training to encourage their support for the family/personal life and professional development of their reports.

The control group was excluded from the training and instead was governed by the company’s preexisting policies.

The results were definitive, say Moen and Kelly. They found employees who participated in the organizational initiative said they felt more control over their schedules, support from their bosses, and were more likely to say they had enough time to spend with their families.

Moreover, these employees reported greater job satisfaction and were less burned out and less stressed. They also reported decreases in psychological distress, which captures depressive symptoms that do not amount to clinical depression.

The study appears online and will published in hard copy of the American Sociological Review.

The study adds to a growing body of research showing that flexible work arrangements result in happier, healthier, and more productive employees.

Yet flexible work arrangements often have a bad reputation. Kelly said. “The worker thinks, ‘If I ask for special treatment, it will kill my career and I won’t get promoted.’ The manager thinks, ‘If I give in to this employee, others will ask me too and no one will get their work done.’

“Even many academics take a skeptical view flex of programs and see them as a way for corporate America to take advantage of workers.”

But it shouldn’t be this way, Moen noted. “Our research demonstrates that workers who are allowed to have a voice in the hours and location of their work not only feel better about their jobs, but also less conflicted about their work-to-family balance.

“Crucially, these workers are also more efficient and more productive on the job. In other words, workplace flexibility is beneficial, not detrimental, to organizations.”

Previous studies have shown that organizational initiatives that improve employees’ subjective well-being also improve the bottom line: they increase productivity and decrease absenteeism, turnover, and presenteeism — showing up, but not being engaged at work.

“Today’s workers are bombarded by advice on how to juggle their work and family lives — we’re told to take up yoga, or learn to meditate, or only check email twice a day,” said Moen.

“But individual coping strategies alone won’t solve the problem. Our study makes clear that organizational initiatives, including programs that promote greater flexibility and control for workers as well as greater supervisor support, are needed.”

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Rick Nauert PhD

Dr. Rick Nauert has over 25 years experience in clinical, administrative and academic healthcare. He is currently an associate professor for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals doctoral program in health promotion and wellness. Dr. Nauert began his career as a clinical physical therapist and served as a regional manager for a publicly traded multidisciplinary rehabilitation agency for 12 years. He has masters degrees in health-fitness management and healthcare administration and a doctoral degree from The University of Texas at Austin focused on health care informatics, health administration, health education and health policy. His research efforts included the area of telehealth with a specialty in disease management.